Study Suggests Pokemon Go Game Linked to Distracted Driving

 Health experts and researchers are warning that being immersed in an augmented reality game can be a danger when people are driving. After the Pokemon Go game was released this year and became wildly popular, researchers from multiple institutions including Johns Hopkins University and San Diego State University, decided to launch a study and see to what degree the game distracts drivers.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, used social media and news reports to determine if Pokemon Go was distracting drivers behind the wheel. During a 10-day period, researchers looked at 345,433 tweets that contained the words “Pokemon” and “driving” or “car.” They then took a random sampling of 4,000 tweets to examine for their findings. In addition, they searched the Internet for stories about driving crashing while playing the game.
A Dangerous Game for the Road
Pokemon Go is a free, location-based augmented reality game. Players use a mobile device’s GPS capability to locate, capture, battle and train Pokemon creatures who appear on the screen as if they were in the same real-world location as the player. The craze to capture all these game-based creatures has caused players to knock on the doors of private homes and trespass on private property and even cause traffic accidents that have resulted in serious injuries to drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
This is what the study’s researchers found. About 18 percent of the tweets studied from the sample showed that a person was playing Pokemon Go while also driving his or her car. One text even read: “omg I’m catching Pokemon and driving.” Researchers found that about one third of the texts indicated that a driver, passenger or pedestrian was distracted by the game.
The game does have a few safeguards including prohibiting a player from collecting Pokemon creatures at speeds above 10 mph. But the game doesn’t prevent players from searching for Pokemon characters at any speed. This means, a player may find a creature in his car and then slow down or stop to catch it. There were 14 crashes attributed to Pokemon Go, according to the study, which used a Google search of news reports during the 10-day period from which the tweets were sampled.
Distracted Driving
In 2014, there were 3,179 deaths associated with distracted driving crashes, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Now, with the recent Pokemon Go game the hazards of distracted driving are reaching a whole new level. Clearly the time has come to address the safety concerns associated with games such as Pokemon Go. It is important for the companies that develop these games to build features that ensure that a game is not operable when the player is inside a vehicle, be it a driver or passenger. The study’s researchers found that passengers playing the game may end up distracting drivers as well. Also, playing such a game even at slow speeds has the potential to result in devastating pedestrian or bicycle accidents.
There are several steps drivers can take to prevent distractions while behind the wheel. Drivers and passengers should refrain from playing any type of game, texting, using a handheld cell phone or posting on social media while driving. Any type of cell phone use including checking email or social media posts may still prove distracting. It is important to remember that distracted driving amounts to negligent driving.
Drivers who become distracted and cause crashes can be held financially responsible for the resulting injuries, damages and losses. Injured victims can seek compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, hospitalization, rehabilitation, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc.
Protecting Your Rights
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident or if you have lost a loved one in an auto accident caused by a reckless driver or due to someone else’s negligence, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a man who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van.
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Source: http://wbt.com/pokemon-go-linked-to-distracted-driving-study-suggests-2/